Birmingham Airport issues update amidst air traffic control issues
Flights travelling to Scotland and Ireland are affected.
There are delays to Scottish and Irish flights departing from Birmingham Airport today.
This is due to the NATS technical issue at Prestwick control centre.
Staff at Birmingham Airport confirm that this should ease as the recovery phase is in progress at Preswick.
Passengers heading to Scotland or Ireland should check their flight status with the airline that they’re using to travel.
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson said: “The NATS technical issue at Prestwick control centre is now in the recovery phase but there are still some delays to Scottish and Irish flights from Birmingham Airport.
“Passengers are advised to check their flight status with their airline. We apologise for the inconvenience and frustration that this NATS issue has caused to passengers.”
Meanwhile, nearby East Midlands Airport had one flight delayed earlier, and its operations are running as normal.
Luke Petherbridge, ABTA's Director of Public Affairs, said:
“This is the second NATS incident to cause disruption in the last fortnight, and fourth in recent years. It’s simply not good enough. The industry and travelling public will want answers – not only on what has gone wrong, but critically how the system is going to be made more resilient to avoid future outages.
“These incidents cause inconvenience to travellers and significant financial costs for airlines and the wider travel industry, including additional work and costs for ABTA’s tour operator and travel agent members.
“As these NATS issues are entirely outside of travel companies’ control, the Government should seriously consider whether NATS should be made to compensate the wider industry for such events.”